Battle of Tolentino

The Battle of Tolentino (2-3 May 1815) was the decisive battle of the Neapolitan War, occurring when the 12,645-strong Austrian army of Frederick Bianchi crushed the 30,378-strong Neapolitan army of King Joachim Murat. The Austrians advanced from northern Italy and conquered Ancona, and Murat decided to face the Austrians in a decisive battle at Tolentino on the Adriatic Sea coast. The Neapolitans made good progress at first, briefly capturing Bianchi before the Hungarian Hussars rescued him. The Neapolitans then pushed the Austrians back, but they formed a square in anticipation of a cavalry attack; instead, their forces were subjected to heavy fire from the Austrians. When false reports of British landings in southern Italy arrived, Murat decided to withdraw to repel the fake British invasion, and his army retreated to Naples. Murat decided to flee to Corsica as a British fleet and the Austrian armies approached Naples, and the 20 May 1815 Treaty of Casalanza restored Ferdinand IV of Naples to the throne. On 13 October 1815, Murat would be executed by a Neapolitan firing squad after returning to the Calabrian port of Pizzo in an attempt to rally popular support for an insurrection.